The Golden Blonde Flower
by humpa G
Summary: OneShot. Uzumaki Naruto decides finally prepares to win Sakura's heart once and for all, but in his preparations of doing so he unexpectingly bumps into Yamanaka Ino in which they find love unexpectingly. NaruIno


My new favorite pairing is Naru x Ino. They just look so perfect together….infact too perfect.

I gave up on my last fic, I haven't written in a longtime either. I realized I like to do only one-shots. Heh. Im just lazy like that. Anyway I don't think this fic is too good, It might have a lot of errors. Its 4am and I'm soo sleepy, but I had too much funny writing it.

Copyright: I don't know what to put here.

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Snowflakes drifted across the roofs of Konoha retiling the whole city to white. The very famous hidden village had gained a reputation for the fast lifestyle of hoping roof too roof. Each ninja of no matter what level knew the usual snow precautions they had to take. First and foremost, wearing warm, but light attire that allows one to move quickly. Everyone knew that. The other part would be to specifically change into the winter ninja boots that would prevent one from slipping off. All ninjas could easily describe the reduction in speed because of the boots ice gripping technology, but they all knew the importance of it. A ninja never complains….except Uzumaki Naruto.

"Why! Why does Tsunade-Sama make us wear these!? These are gonna slow us down!" Naruto cried out trying to jump from one branch to another.

"Eh…Naruto. You just do." Shikamaru responded without noticing Naruto's goofy antics. He was used to it by now.

"I agree with Naruto, these boots suck." Kiba said who was leaning on the back of the bench, trying to put on Akamaru's little boots.

"Think of it this way you at least you can stick on things without chakra…" Shikamaru put in.

"But what if we get attacked, we would be so doomed." Naruto still couldn't get the jump he wanted.

"Hah well, who would attack us now anyway. We've kicked all their asses." Kiba proudly remarked standing up and raising his fist in the air. Naruto, feeling the excitement, jumped down to slap his hand.

It was true. The Akatsuki had been defeated just last week. All of them were dead. All of Konoha's main threats have been reduced to no threat. Konoha couldn't have been in a more peaceful state.

"Eh, doesn't matter I don't need them. These boots won't ever save me." Naruto exclaimed as he tossed them away and put on his regular boots.

The three of them continued to hang out in the snow for the afternoon talking about everything except ninja stuff. This is what Naruto enjoyed. Being able to have friends in who he didn't have to just talk about ninjitsu or training. Unlike his relationship with a certain quiet team member, he didn't have to awkwardly force a ninjitsu topic. There was however one topic that he always hated, when it came to it.

"So Shikamaru… what are you going to do with Temari tonight?" Kiba was always the one to bring this topic up. Naruto describes Shikamaru and Temari's relationship as a Medium-Distance relationship. He would always see them together in the village, however when asked she was always far away.

"Well…you know…she wants me to do something nice for her." Shikamaru lazy to talk about this stuff, but Kiba being the puppy that he is gave him the thumbs up.

"Nice stuff? What do you mean? It's not a holiday…is it?" Naruto questioned raising his eyebrow. Kiba did too.

"No. It's not. I'm just going surprise her. She's been away from her home for a long time and will be here for quite some time. So I'm going to give her something." Shikamaru said.

"You mean you're gonna just give her something even though it's nothing special?" Kiba questioned.

"Yes, stupid. Girls like it when you surprise them once in awhile. Show them appreciation. It's how you win them." Shikamaru spoke with an intelligent voice.

"Ohhhh, why don't you just give her that special flower" Kiba replied. This had caught Naruto's attention who was now sitting up on the snow listening intently to the two converses.

"That flower is rare. You'll never find another like it."

"But that's what you gave to Temari and she instantly fell for you right?"

"Yes, but I didn't know about it in the first place. Hey and she liked me already before I gave it."

"Cheapo." Kiba remarked.

"Jeez, Kiba. I feel bad for Hinata. You're so troublesome." Shikamaru sighed. Kiba had finally begun making a move on Hinata eventually swaying her away from her liking to Naruto. It took quite some time, but Hinata also realized that she and Naruto would never be for Naruto always had an eye on another.

"Well no need to feel bad for her anymore, I'm going to surprise her today!" and with that Kiba jumped on his feet. Akamaru barked in approval. Shikamaru and Kiba gave each other approval smiles to one another as they slapped hands. Then they turned to Naruto looking for him to say the same thing.

"…."

"Aw man. Don't tell me Naruto. Please don't tell me." Kiba face palmed. Both of them knew Naruto's situation.

Shikamaru sighed and asked "Naruto are you still infatuated with Sakura?"

"Heh…I wouldn't say infatuated…" Naruto responded scratching his head. "More like love…"

"No you aren't! Get over her already!" They both yelled and smacked him into the snow.

It was true. Naruto had still this massive infatuation with his long-time teammate Haruno Sakura. They were all 18 years old now and for 6 of those years Naruto was still hoping that one day she would like him back. But his two buds knew that it was a tragedy and sometimes suspected that Naruto knew too deep inside. Sakura had always rejected any of Naruto's attempts. Ever since Sasuke returned Naruto knew that any chance with Sakura was over. With his long-term goal of killing his brother completed, Sasuke had even begun returning interest to the pink-haired teammate.

"Well…This new year I decided to try even harder. I'll make Sakura love me, by surprising her tonight as well! I'm going to set up a romantic date that will surely win her heart." Naruto jumped up on his feet raising his hand for a high five.

His two buddies just stared at him with sweat drops dripping down. They couldn't leave him hanging so they complied with the high five.

"So persistent…if you say so Naruto….If you say so." Shikamaru said. They both knew they can't stop Naruto once he gets an idea.

As the sun began to set, the three of them headed back into the village to meet their significant others. In Naruto's case, he was headed to prepare a romantic dinner at his place. He first stopped by at a gourmet restaurant where he bought a some expensive French dishes. It was painful to his little frog, but he got over it rather quickly. He then dropped by and picked up several items that would spice up the place such as table cloths, scented candles, and love leafs…things he picked up while snooping through some of Kakashi's books. He was all set except for one last stop.

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Ino Yamanaka had become quite a beauty. She definitely received quite a lot of male attention from many of the males around town. People would think that she would have a boyfriend by now, but surprisingly she stayed single. Some say she stayed single because she was always busy with the flower shop, but the real reason was for her own.

It was a busy day today as several people came by to purchase quite a number of flowers. Ino started the closing of the shop process as she carried the outside flowers to the inside. The same old process of cleaning up, then checking of the records. She noted that the two biggest purchases of the day was one from her team mate in the morning and one from Kiba at the end. She thought of how lucky their girlfriends were to have someone that did things to show their love.

Ino sat on the stool on the counter thinking of the day when someone would do something like that for her. Most of the boys, who tried to win her heart, were all the same. They all had the same boring attempts of being very predictable. She dated a couple of guys who were often unconfident, nervous, and quiet. She couldn't even remember a time when one of them even made her laugh besides a forced little awkward smile. She often concluded that maybe it was the fact that she was a ninja and that they felt intimidated. Though that couldn't be the case because she even dated Sai, which didn't really last too long. At first she was flattered by his compliments, but then she felt that they just weren't having any fun. It resulted into her dumping him and him starting to paint emotional pictures. She just never really felt any real connection with any of them.

Ino sighed as she stared at a picture of her parents looking so good together.

"Will I ever be that happy?" Ino spoke to herself or so she thought.

"Yeah, if you just never give up searching." A voice spoke from the doorway.

Ino turned around to see blonde hair standing by the doorway. It was Naruto who had just jumped down and was hanging on the doorframe stumbling to prevent him from slipping.

"Eh? Naruto what do you want! Were closed!" Ino stated a bit annoyed that Naruto had intruded on her thinking session.

"Ah, Ino-chan. Please, I just need to buy some flowers. It's an emergency!" Naruto said brushing some snow off his blonde hair.

"And why would you of all people need flowers?" She was a bit curious on why Uzumaki Naruto needed flowers. She always had this imagine of Naruto being un-dateable for being just too goofy. Had he come because he too is preparing something for a special someone?

'_I'm sure I would never date Naruto.' _Ino thought inside of her as she put her hands on her waist. The thought of

"I just need it. It's for…uh…just need it." Naruto answered looking around at the flowers.

"Naruto do you have a girlfriend or something?" she questioned again. She didn't really know why she was curious because of all the people why would she care that Uzumaki Naruto has a date.

"Nope. But I will soon." Naruto said with a smile. "So I'll take this one." He said as he pointed to a plant.

"Idiot! That's a venus fly trap!" Ino said as she face palmed. She saw Naruto sweat dropped and smiled at the thought of him giving that plant.

"Oh. Eheh. I knew that, I meant to point to this one, of course" As he pointed to the one on the shelf.

"Because you want to stab your date with that cactus right?" Ino giggled at Naruto. "Naruto how do you ever come to these conclusions." She continued to laugh. She wasn't sure why she laughed as much. Maybe it was that she hadn't really laughed all day. Or maybe cause Naruto was just a funny guy.

"Alright, alright. If you can show me then flower girl." Naruto smiled at the thought of making someone giggle rather than smacking him into the ground for his stupidity. It was different, but in a way that made him feel good. She looked at his smile and she could see the sincerity radiating from his eyes.

"I think I know the perfect flower for you Naruto. It's probably my favorite one that only comes around during the winter. I'll show you if you don't mind a walk." Naruto agreed with a nod and Ino motioned Naruto to follow her as she walked out the front door. She put on her cozy warm, but light designers coat on the way out.

Ino asked herself why she was doing this for Naruto, but told herself that she was feeling charitable for the evening. It was a beautiful evening anyway with the stars shining brightly throughout the night. It was a good night for a walk she assured herself. But then again she didn't want to break that smile on his face.

Outside the moon lit up all off Konoha in the snow. As Ino locked the door, the moonlight shined across both their blonde hairs. The roads of Konoha were silenced with only the sound of cricket's churping. Everyone had begun clearing out with just the shopkeepers closing up their shacks.

Naruto stood there a bit mesmerized at the back of Ino's head staring at her lighter shade of golden hair was waving with the light breeze. Something about it made him want to feel how silky it was.

"Your hair is nicely blonde…"Naruto said out loud, when he thought he was saying it in his head.

Ino turned around and looked back at him. Her eyes moved left, then right, and then she raised her eye brow.

"Excuse me?" she said as she tilted her head.

"Ehh…Uhh….I said…uh… over there is nicely pond" Naruto pointed to a lamp post as he scratched his head trying to cover up what he said.

Ino giggled and said "Well, you have nice blonde hair too Naruto." As she put her hand through Naruto's naturally spiky hair and walked past him. Naruto was a bit red. How he yearned for a female touch. It was also really nice for someone to say something good about his messy hair.

"Come on Naruto." And she tugged on his wrist to follow her.

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They walked through the village side by side. The snow was about an inch deep and the snowflakes had stopped drizzling for the evening. People had begun walking home, but a lot of people were probably home already. Naruto walked with his hands behind his head closing his eyes once in awhile. Ino looked over at Naruto's dozing off face and thought it was cute. It was cute how his whiskers fit so perfectly with such an innocent face. She thought about how lucky this girl he's chasing after must be to be able to look at his sweet innocent face every night.

"Naruto…"

"Yeah?" Naruto said. One thing that reminded him about what he always admired about Ino was how bold she was. She was a very confident girl who always spoke her mind. If she was curious about something, she would always get answers.

"How long have you known this girl?"

"For a really long time….like…a really long time."

"Stuck in a long infatuation are you. Well that's always respectable. At least you are dedicated… Is she very important to you?"

"Yeah…even as a friend she still is"

"Do you see yourself having a long future with her?"

"Well….eh…" Naruto thought about it.

"Are you _madly_ in love with her?" Ino said in a sarcastic, but playful tone as a way to break the awkwardness of the questions. She stretched her arms to show her exaggeration. They both broke out in laughter as they continued walking further.

"Not really I guess…" Naruto whispered himself so that only he could hear himself. Naruto couldn't tell where they were anymore, but the fact that there were no walls meant they were outside of Konoha.

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"Were here." Ino came to a halt.

The two were standing in some sort of hidden garden found on top of a hill outside of Konoha that no one ever goes to. There was a magnificent view of all the houses of Konoha sparking as if there were stars on the earth as well. It was like looking into a beautiful pattern of little stars. The garden was another thing. It had white flowers glowing all around in the bushes. There was a nice stone bench placed in front of the whole view of the city.

"Where are we?" Naruto questioned as he looked around.

"This is my favorite place in all of Konoha, it's my secret garden." Ino said as she grabbed his hand unnoticeably to pull him in. Naruto was too busy looking to the beauty of the place to notice they were holding hands, or maybe he did and enjoyed the warmth of her hand.

"Wow….Ino…This is….incredible…." Naruto had moved to sit on the bench still holding Ino's hand and pulling her to sit next to him. They say there together under the stars and the moonlight trying to pick out which were actually stars and which were house lights.

"I always came here when I was a little girl, I found it one day playing in the woods."

"You should've called me to come play with you here." Naruto turned to look at her and smiled.

Ino giggled, "Yeah that would've been great. When I first found this place, the flowers were withering away. But I knew all flowers were beautiful and so I took care of them. Every flower deserves a chance to be appreciated. To know that there is a deep connection with a flower and the person. For when you give it to someone they are allowing themselves to find be cared." Ino looked up into the night trying to hide her beginning to blush cheeks.

"Has anyone else been here?" Naruto asked.

"Only me. I was sort of waiting for the right person."

"Oh…Sorry to ruin that for you." Naruto said, feeling as if he ruined it for her.

"Don't worry about it Naruto." She acknowledged him still counting the stars.

Naruto couldn't take his eyes off her. The moonlight lightened up her soft skin and her silky hair covering a half of an eye. 'Something about her just seems so beautiful' Naruto thought in his head. They sat there for a couple more minutes. It was butterflies.

Little flying butterflies circled this one pot of flowers. In that pot was a golden blonde flower with leaves that were perfectly shaped. Naruto began noticing it and tapped Ino's shoulder.

"Ino… what's that?" pointing to the flower.

"Ah…yeah. That's the flower I was talking about." Ino said as she got up from the bench and went to the pot. She carefully took it out from its holder and wrapped it professionally. The flower being held right next to Ino's hair matched perfectly. Ino then walked towards Naruto and handed him the flower, which continued to glow.

"This flower is known that when you give it to the one you love. They will definitely fall head over heels for you." Ino explained. This was the flower Shikamaru and Kiba was talking about. He recalled it being that one legendary flower that would charm anyone into falling in love with them.

"Are-Are-Are you serious?" Naruto was scared to handle something so powerful. It could be more powerful than Kyuubi.

"Yes, so choose wisely who you give it to, it's a rare flower that only grows once in a lifetime per country."

"I can't take something like this Ino!"

"Just take it Naruto, I don't need it."

"But-I"

"No buts." Ino had this grasp of womanly authority that was powerful. Good for Naruto though.

"Ino….Thank you. I'll repay you as soon as possible." Naruto said bowing his head as he stood up.

"Really Naruto...Don't worry about it." Ino replied. "Oi and Naruto if you drop that plant I'll kill you!" She threatened him.

"Eheh. I'll b sure…So shall we head ba-"

As Naruto started walking towards the exit, he sort of slipped on the ice due to his old boots. He fumbled only to be caught by Ino. His arm landed around hanging around Ino's shoulder as Ino helped him gain his composure. As Naruto slowly helped himself up their faces came so close together. Close enough for each of them to feel the other one breathing and looking directly at eachothers eyes to notice that they were both blue. With all the tension built, they both closed their eyes and felt their faces come closer.

"_RING RING RING RING" Naruto's cell phone had an incoming call_

The two broke apart from each other both blushing intensely. Ino was rubbing her arm pretending to look away. Naruto looked at his phone still red and answered it.

"Hello? Naruto? "A female voice came from the phone.

"Eh, Sakura-Chan?" Naruto replied. Ino squinted her eyes in suspicion at Naruto.

"You told me you wanted to meet me in person. Where are you?" Sakura said in the phone.

"Oh, yeah. Alright I'll be there in a few." With that Naruto hung up.

He turned to Ino who was just staring at him blankly with her arms at her waist.

"This was for Sakura?"

"Uh…well….you see-" Naruto didn't really feel like responding.

"Well lucky her then." Ino replied hastily in a monotonic voice. Arms were not wrapped across her chest.

"I got to go…Thanks for everything Ino."

"Yeah."

"Are you going back? I'll walk with you till-"

"No."

"Oh…alright…well…see yeah."

And with that Naruto turned and left with the golden blonde flower in his hand. Ino stood there. She stood there feeling so empty. As she always had. She didn't know what to feel, but she knew she felt alone again. All of a sudden. Without his presence with her anymore. Even though it was just a couple of house, she felt warm when he was around. Now she was feeling really cold inside.

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Sakura stood on the top of a roof near Naruto's apartment, where she was told to meet him. She was wearing her favorite coat with her scarf. Her arms crossed and her foot tapping on the roof probably waking up the poor little kid who slept beneath it. Naruto came jumping towards her location as fast as he could trying to avoid slipping especially without his cutting edge boots.

Finally, Sakura noticed Naruto jumping at full speed towards her as she was getting ready to smack him for being late. And as Naruto did land in front of her did she smack him for his tardiness.

"Where were you!? I was freezing." Sakura yelled.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan. I had some important things to do." Naruto said scratching his new bruise.

"Well, I'm that's okay, besides the thousands of reports I have to do for Kakashi-sensei! That your delay will now cause me all night!" She yelled again raising her fist at Naruto.

"Eh, eh…Don't worry I'm here to make it up to you Sakura-Chan."

"Oh? Ok that's good."

This was it. Naruto knew the time had come. This was the time he's always been waiting for, the time for him to finally win her heart. He had prepared a major game plan that was a no fail. The flower was safely inside this little pouch he was carrying with him. He made sure not lose it so he chained it to his belt. It was a safety precaution.

"So what did you want to tell me?" Sakura now crossed her arms.

"Well Sakura-chan…I wanted to give you something." Naruto said very nervously. He was a bit worried on what might happen, but had to get it over with.

"Uhm...Sakura-chan…I"

"What? Hurry up!"

Naruto looked inside his bag and saw the flower laying there. Its golden blonde petals still glowing illuminating it's beautiful presence. Naruto was again struck by awe at the wonderful smell it blew. He couldn't help but remember a certain blonde girl and the amazing evening they shared together. The blonde petals flashed at him and in a moment he pictured Yamanaka Ino's beautiful giggle and felt the warmth of her hand in his memory. She was there still. Still waiting for him.

"Naruto….hello?" Sakura said still impatiently tapping her foot.

"This…I'm such a fool." Naruto said to himself.

"Well what did you want to give me?" Sakura questioned once more.

"Uh…this." And Naruto gave Sakura thumbs up and a smile.

"What!? I came all the way for this! You interrupted me when I was in the middle of making Sasuke-kun brownies! NA-RU-" she began yelling as she prepared to punch him into space. But Naruto had quickly jumped away as fast as he could.

Ino Yamanaka was finally getting ready to go from her sacred garden. She had just finished meditating alone in the cold midnight under the still beaming moon. The stars were still high above, but the ones on the earth had been blown out already. People began to go to bed, but Ino still sat a little bit longer.

_What was I thinking…To even consider a guy like Naruto...Wait you never even considered him, what are you talking about. I thought you said he was un-dateable. _

_Yes, but he was so different._

_How are you so sure? I felt so connected with him…I felt…happy. Are you happy now? No….cause….I'm alone here again…._

Ino stood up and began to walk towards the exit. As she stepped towards the path came a familiar voice.

"You're not alone."

Ino's eyes opened wide as she turned around. There he stood with his spiky blond hair shimmering from the moonlight. She looked straight into his blue eyes that she could feel smothering right through her.

"I didn't say anything." Ino said slowly.

"I know you didn't. But sometimes I think we both think aloud" Naruto responded firmly. His goofy smile that she couldn't resist matched his little whiskers. He began to walk closer towards the blond girl who continued to just stand there.

"What…what do you want? What are you doing here?" She questioned him as he continued walking to her in the moonlight until he was finally face to face with her. Standing right in front of her, she realized what a perfect height for a man he was. She saw how cute he looked when he just stared at her. And he looked into her blue eyes seeing someone who really cared for her.

The wind blew very lightly and the flowers gently swayed. It couldn't have been a more beautiful night.

"Doing what I should've done in the first place." Naruto said firmly as he grabbed her close to him and he pressed his lips against hers closing his eyes. She slowly closed her eyes too and enjoyed it as she felt his soft lips finally pressing against hers. She kissed him back passionately too as he held her cheeks making sure he kissed every part of her lips. He wanted her to know that he appreciated everything about her. That he had fallen for her. She felt his arms hold her closely and she felt secure.

"And I have something for you." Naruto said with their eyes half open and lips just an inch away. He held his gaze into her eyes smiling as she blushed immensely in his arms. He pulled out the golden blonde flower that matched her hair perfectly.

"This is for you…. Ino Yamanaka. Does this mean I'm forcing you to fall in love with me? Are you falling under the spell of the flower?" Naruto smiled as he put the flower in her hair.

Ino laughed "And where on earth did you learn that?" She laughed at the crazy idea of a flower that puts you under a spell. She knew there was no such thing.

"I'll tell you through dinner, my place. There's a surprise." Naruto spoke in a slick voice.

"I better be surprised." Ino demanded. Naruto put his arm around her shoulder and began to walk out with her.

"Hey but…Isn't this the legendary flower, that when given to someone they will fall in love with?" Naruto said scratching his head again.

"Oh Uzumaki Naruto, I think I'm falling madly in love with you." She smiled.


End file.
